I combined prompts at LJ and came up with New Year's Eve and drunken shenanigans. I don't drink so hopefully I did OK with the drunken behavior. ;)
Merlin thought it was a bad idea. A horribly bad idea, actually. Because the idea meant he'd have to do all the work—the prep and the cleanup. But it had been a while since their gang had gotten together and even longer since they'd celebrated a holiday together. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the girls would help, if not take over the whole thing. So he smiled, picked up the phone, his half of the invite list and got dialing.
And that's how he and Arthur had ended up with all this in their flat. Morgana, Gwen and Freya had taken over the planning. They cleaned, cooked and decorated the hell out of the place. Merlin had protested, it's just New Year's Eve, but they hadn't listened. And now his flat looked like a cross between a trashy pub and a party store. That was not a compliment.
Gwaine, of course, had led the alcohol brigade. He'd assigned every male member of their group a different form of alcohol, and Lance, Elyan, Leon, and Percival had delivered. Merlin didn't even know what some of the stuff was—of course being a notorious lightweight facilitated that ignorance.
But the worst had to be the games. He had never heard of some of the ones Morgana proposed. And of course she was three sheets to the wind by the time she proposed musical chairs. Unfortunately that one seemed to capture everyone's fancy. He was quickly roped in by Morgana and went willingly, well, because he might have a sort of thing for her.
During the first round, he was doing very well. Until he wasn't and Morgana pulled him onto her lap and claimed he was safe. That started all sorts of teasing until she bent over and threw up on his shoes. The others continued the game without them as he helped her clean up and replaced his shoes. She apologized profusely and even tried to kiss him, but there was no way he'd take advantage of her in her current state. Even if it was oh-so-tempting.
They went back out to the living room where they found the game still in full swing. Morgana pulled him back in the next round and again he found himself pulled onto her lap. She'd even started to nibble his ear before he got away.
He tried to walk away after that round ended, but he found her hand yanking his wrist backwards. He fell on her lap again and decided he wasn't nearly inebriated enough for this. And even though he advised her not to, Morgana followed him into the kitchen. She cuddled up to him while they drank their mulled wine, and this time, he let her kiss him.
They laughed and stumbled back out into the living room where musical chairs was still going on. This time he laughed when Morgana pulled him hard onto her lap—but unfortunately the force of it hit her stomach and she threw up on his shoes again.
Everyone stared for a moment before breaking out into drunken giggles. But Merlin helped Morgana up again to the bathroom in his bedroom. He gently cleaned her up and got her some mouthwash. When he finished, he told her, "You're done for the night," and pushed her into his bed, sans shoes. He smoothed the hair back from her forehead and kissed it before drawing his blankets over her.
He walked back out into the living room and found the game busted up. It was nearly 3 am and every single person, especially Gwaine, was drooping. He sighed and yanked Arthur down the hall to their linen closet where he pulled out heaps of blankets and stuffed them into Arthur's arms. They paraded back to the living room and handed them out to their friends. He advised them to find a comfy space and sleep because he couldn't in good conscience let them leave in their current state.
Lance and Freya settled down next to each other, Gwaine claimed the couch and Arthur dragged Gwen to his bedroom. The others claimed spaces on the floor and Merlin wished them all "goodnight." He turned out the lights, ignored the kitchen and stumbled back into his bedroom.
There he climbed into his bed and lay as far as he could from Morgana. He turned on his side, snuggled down into the mattress and drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, Merlin was woken by the sound of someone rattling around in his bathroom. That's when the headache hit him. He groaned and slowly dragged himself out of bed, staggering over to the bathroom. Morgana was rifling through his medicine cabinet like a woman possessed. "Where's Gaius's hangover stuff?"
"Sorry, you'll have to make do with the paracetamol this time," he told her. He pushed past her and grabbed the bottle. He shook out a few, handed her half and filled up a glass of water for them.
After they'd both consumed the painkiller, she turned and looped her arms around his neck. "Have I told you that I fancy you?"
"Not in so many words, no." He grinned at her. She kissed the grin right off of his face and it may have developed into something more if there hadn't been a crash in the living room. "To be continued." He grabbed her wrist and yanked her out the bedroom door.
Leon was standing there, sheepishly staring at the glass he'd knocked onto the dining room floor. But the sound had woken everyone else up, and they were moaning and groaning in pain. Morgana went back to Merlin's bathroom for the paracetamol while Merlin grinned and said, "Happy New Year everyone!"
There were a few more groans but a couple return greetings too. Arthur and Gwen came out of Arthur's bedroom. Gwen's eyes lit up and she yelled, "Happy Birthday, Merlin!"
More groans echoed throughout the room. But Gwen ran over to those still on the floor and helped them up. Morgana had come out of the bathroom with the painkiller and was handing it out to everyone. Soon Gwen had everyone patting Merlin on the back and trooping into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. They made Merlin a giant pancake with chocolate chips and put a candle in it. They had him sit and eat it before anyone else could eat anything. And after a hungover round of "Happy Birthday," he did.
Thanks for reading. I've got 1 more coming- hang on tight! :)
